A glimpse of their past

Our children are from a small town near Cucuta, Colombia. Most all of the adoption was handled through the Cucuta ICBF offices with the exception of the signing of the sentencia and changing of one child's birth certificate from Pamplona, the town they're from. The older two birth certificates were handled out of Cucuta. We were politely told we should be cautious while in the town the children are from due to the amount of relatives the children have there. We were strongly advised to deter from being anywhere in the proximity of that town with the children in tow. I'm still wondering about this because the older two tell me they have no relatives there in Pamplona. My kids talk of having many, many relatives from around Bucaramanga which is much further down the road (80 miles I think), so that doesn't make too much sense at all. Anyways, Rick was the only one to go to the town of Pamplona to sign sentencia and while there that afternoon he took many movies and still pictures of the town and different landmarks. Our plans were to save them for the children to preserve their memories of their homeland. Rick took random pictures of different landmarks as they traveled through the little streets. People walking along the sidewalks appeared in just about every picture.

Last night the kids openly engaged conversations of their past life and I felt the urge to share the pictures of Pamplona their dad had taken while there. We moved through the first 10 pictures nicely and they thought it was a great treat to relive some of their fonder memories and point out different buildings, their school, the store, houses of their friends, etc. Then we came to the 11th picture and what a surprise that brought about! Of all things, there was Luis Alejandro's birthfather standing there just as plain as day. The kids screamed out his name and I recognized that name from our paperwork. Then I enlarged the picture and could clearly see so many distinguishable facial characteristics of my son. Wow, what a God-thing!!!! I mean for Rick to be leisurely traveling through the town with a population of more than 65,000 people and popping off about 40 random pictures of town landmarks, and one of those contains a clear view of Luis' birthfather talking on his cellphone as he was standing on a curb... just amazing!!!! Then, at that moment, I just bawled as I gave thanks to God. The kids didn't quite understand at first but upon explaining the nostalgic importance of the picture, and not to mention they know their mami cries when she's happy, I think they gathered more of an understanding. I have to see the pure blessing in this that we now have a picture of our baby's birthfather and one day if our boy is curious to know where he gets his looks from, he'll be able to see for himself. WOW, what a remarkable gift! So hard to believe!!! I wish so much I had a picture of the kids' mother. At least the older two still remember her, and they are mostly good memories, and for that I am grateful. We still say prayers nightly for the birthparents and I hope to keep this tradition going so they can remember them.

The kids are opening up more and more about their past and so far have not had any real problematic times with revealing their past lifestyle and situations that brought them into ICBF's care. Again, we are truly blessed and they have made great strides. So much credit is due to the excellent care they received while in their foster homes. They were just wonderful women who loved my children in ways I'll always treasure!

This is just another example of how God's hand was ever-present during our adoption! I'm so amazed at God's wonders -- how He could stage the coming together of two unlikely subjects, then preserve that moment with a picture -- and not just any picture, but one that might hold answers to so many future questions our little son might have later in life.

It's almost funny now looking back at how discouraged I got throughout the adoption process. I didn't always see God's hand at work and I grew weary and lost faith many times from not having a visual perception of how God was orchestrating the timing and the plans for our family. Now I see so much more of the picture He was painting and what a wonderful, elaborate work of art it's turning out to be! And the glory is that God has so much more in store for us! What an awesome God we serve!

My message to so many of my blogger friends who have been waiting for so long to receive the little bundles of joy that await them in beautiful Colombia. Just KEEP THE FAITH! Your days ahead be filled with many blessings! God is so good!
Genece

Steering clear of the baking aisle

Alright, it's only happened 6 times now and you'd think I'd have learned not to take Fabian to the grocery store and lead him down the baking aisle. It's rather embarrassing the closer he gets to the area with the cooking oils. He can be loud at times and these are just those times when his voice seems to carry. It never fails that upon approaching the cooking oils, he remarks, "EWWWW, Chi Chi in a bottle! Mami, who buys Chi Chi in a bottle? That's yucky!!"

And if that's not bad enough, just yesterday there was a lady putting her canola oil into her cart at the time we were passing, and I couldn't move fast enough... no, not nearly fast enough... Fabian made his remarks, but this time he had pinpointed just exactly WHO would buy such stuff. And wouldn't you know it, we ran into the lady I think just about every aisle during the rest of the time we were there. Fabian pointing her out every time... "There's the Chi Chi lady." I don't think she heard but just the first time, but still... a bit embarrassing!

You gotta know that even with my Colombian children just being in the foster care system for one year, they still had never been to a store before they came to join our family. There's so many nuances for them and they really do keep us in stitches at times with their way of thinking. I can't help but think what a wild world we are now able to show them. I thank you God for bringing us these children to love.

What a Story!!!

Congratulations are in order for the First Family of Alaska upon the arrival of their 5th child born Friday morning -- a little baby boy born a little earlier than expected and causing quite a buzz! See, Governor Sarah Palin is from the same town as I am from and I've visited many a times with her through several mutual friends. It's always a hoot to sit anywhere in the vicinity of her during a sports event but you might not catch all the action you originally hoped for. You're always in for a treat though -- she's usually multi-tasking at its finest as she can carry on an entertaining conversation and cheer on the action all at the same time. She's so entertaining that you can't help but pay attention to her! She has such endearing qualities and even when she was just the mayor of our town, she was just a normal person who blended in. Now in her role as Governor, she's never had trouble keeping her rise to stardom in check. Extremely poised, she's just the same endearing person with a desire to serve her constituents, and I must say she does a great job!

Anyways, she has quite the story to tell involving the pregnancy. She's 44 years old and in fabulous shape and just recently shocked the media and whole state of Alaskan people by revealing she was 7 month pregnant. Nobody even suspicioned that she was pregnant and it was stunning news to hear that she was that far along.

Well, story has it that she was in Texas on Thursday at a Governor's conference when her water broke. She then went on to deliver a keynote address where she stood during her 30 minute speech, still never letting on to the fact that she was in labor. She had to conceal her late-term pregnancy and labor from the airlines in order to fly from Texas back to Alaska. Tough, but manageable. Somehow she managed to land in Anchorage and trek another 50 miles north to her hometown where she was admitted in the hospital and then gave birth. Her father said she was bound and determined not to have the baby in Texas and chuckled that she said she knew if she did, she'd never live that one down.

There were special challenges with this child and some of the local news coverage is reporting that little Trig Paxson Van Palin has Down syndrome. One news channel's coverage in my opinion was a bit brash in reporting the news making it seem like such an unmanageable challenge. (Anyone who knows me well knows that I went through most of my pregnancy with Marissa suspecting she would have Down Syndrome, but I trusted God had a plan. Turns out Marissa was not DS, but I still carry it so deep in my heart and share a love for all out there with these unique qualities.)

I am so happy to hear that my christian sister Sarah stands so proudly with her family in their faith in God and has issued this statement:


Trig Paxson Van Palin, Governor Sarah Palin's second son, was born at 6:30 a.m. on Friday and weighs six pounds, two ounces. Both Sarah Palin and the baby are reported to be doing well.

The state's first family released this statement:
"Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."


In my opinion, what more needs to be said? They are proudly embracing what God has given them, and he is truly a beautiful baby boy. I could not imagine the tenacity, the courage, and her determination she endured during her pregnancy, labor, birth process, and now the media personnel. I admire her faith!

Thanks for listening as she has quite the story to tell, and it's only beginning. God is working wonders through this family and it's so neat to so closely witness His grace. She is clearly a wholesome believer of Christ who has been reported by the media recently as being courted as a possible running mate for Vice President with John McCain, but as for now she's just Sarah Palin, my friend and proud mama of 5!

What??? No more cookies??? You're kidding me??

There's always trouble when Mami tells Luis, "No more cookies!" (Here's a good shot of his mouth full of teeth. I think he has 12 teeth in now.)

MMMMMMMM.... Cookies! Luis' Favorite!!

Luis loves his cookies! Actually Luis just loves to eat and he'll eat anything. We haven't run across anything this little baby won't eat. He loves it all. Surprisingly he absolutely loves Liverwurst (as his dad and also Karen love to eat too). He loves olives, pickles, cabbage, carrots, lemons, and so much more. We're looking for some sort of food he might turn his nose up to but so far haven't run across any food the child dislikes. No picky eater here! His appetite and willingness to eat anything simply amazes me. Cookies still remain Luis' favorite, but are a close tie with hamburger stroganoff (Karen's favorite).

Some pictures of the kids

Here's just a few pictures that I've been wanting to get on here for quite some time now. Most of these were taken last month before the latest round of sickness rolled through our house here.

Double Whammy with the FLU! Yucky week so far!

Well, that just about sums it up. WHAM and just like that we all had the flu which we got through after only a few days, then coasted along for a few days still not 100% but functional. Obviously, too lucky to be done with the flu that easy -- so here come the next go around with the flu and what a WHAMMY that's been. I've been hit harder than I have been in years now it seems. And the rest of the kiddos are just coming into the second part of this sickness so they've still got the worst parts approaching in the days to come. Fabian doesn't get hit hard by sickness (or that's how it's been since we've been home), so I'm hoping he can ride it out. He was sniffling and sneezing a bit all day and having chills late in the evening tonight. I still struggle with trying to keep both Fabian and Karen out of the baby's area when they are sick, or vice versa. We never quite figured out how to explain GERMS to our spanish speakers, and I'm constantly on them about this very thing. I think when I feel better I'll research on the computer how to teach my children about germs and how to curb sickness. That's probably the one thing I struggle to emphasize to my children, and they have made great strides, yes they have, but I really think we can rise above this one with the proper training. They love to wash their hands so we are very fortunate for that. Just some fine tuning and a little explanation of what germs are, how they spread, etc.

I'll write more when I'm feeling better and I would covet any prayers for our family in restoring our health back to normal. Being a single mom (essentially because Rick's gone for another few weeks) during this sickness has been so trying at times. Thankfully God gives just enough to me every day to make it through. And I have to say that I'd be lost without Marissa's help. She's just a divine helper and a wonderful daughter. We're blessed in so many ways!

Goodnight everyone. Just a little something before I sign off, I must say how proud I am of Mario Chalmers, the Kansas Jayhawk player who won the Most Outstanding Player award and hit the 3 pointer that advanced Kansas into overtime tonight. Mario is from Anchorage and it's great to see local Alaskan talent do so well. Much deserved and what an amazing game! Way to go Jayhawks and way to go Super Mario!